1 Samuel 1:8

8 dixit ergo ei Helcana vir suus Anna cur fles et quare non comedis et quam ob rem adfligitur cor tuum numquid non ego melior sum tibi quam decem filii

1 Samuel 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 1:8

Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest
thou?
&c.] Since it was a time of rejoicing, as every festival was, especially at the ingathering of the fruits of the earth:

and why eatest thou not?
since they were at a feast, and she had the best part and portion of the provision:

and why is thy heart grieved?
to such a degree that she could neither eat nor drink:

am not I better to thee than ten sons?
which, as Jarchi says, Peninnah had borne to him; his meaning is, that the share she had in his love and affections ought to have been esteemed by her more than if she had ten or many children by him; and it suggests that Peninnah would have been glad to have such a share in his affections as Hannah had; and it would have been more eligible to her, than to have borne him so many children as she had.

1 Samuel 1:8 In-Context

6 adfligebat quoque eam aemula eius et vehementer angebat in tantum ut exprobraret quod conclusisset Dominus vulvam eius

7 sicque faciebat per singulos annos cum redeunte tempore ascenderent templum Domini et sic provocabat eam porro illa flebat et non capiebat cibum

8 dixit ergo ei Helcana vir suus Anna cur fles et quare non comedis et quam ob rem adfligitur cor tuum numquid non ego melior sum tibi quam decem filii

9 surrexit autem Anna postquam comederat in Silo et biberat et Heli sacerdote sedente super sellam ante postes templi Domini

10 cum esset amaro animo oravit Dominum flens largiter